Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

BEIJING (AP) — China plans to tighten control over rare earths producers and restrict output in a five-year development strategy, the Cabinet said Wednesday, amid concern abroad about plans to reduce exports of the exotic minerals used in high-tech goods.
A Cabinet statement promised to "reasonably set annual quotas for production and export" but gave no details.

WASHINGTON (AP) — General Motors says it is recalling more than 50,000 Cadillac CTS vehicles worldwide to fix a loose joint that could cause a rear wheel to become unstable, making it hard for drivers to steer.
GM says the recall affects more than 44,000 CTS vehicles in the United States from the 2009 and 2010 model years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration's campaign against a costly alternative engine for the Pentagon's next-generation fighter jet faces a critical vote in the GOP-controlled House, its fate to be decided by more than 90 freshmen lawmakers who previously haven't had to choose sides between two major defense companies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Factories produced more goods for the fifth straight month in January as strong auto sales spurred demand for new cars and trucks. But overall industrial production fell for the first time in 19 months.
The Federal Reserve says output by the nation's factories, mines and utilities dipped 0.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Mitsubishi Electric will receive more than $34 million in tax incentives for building a $200 million high-voltage power transformer factory that is expected to create 281 jobs in Memphis, documents show.
Mitsubishi Electric Power Products announced plans Monday to build the plant on 140 acres at an industrial park near the Mississippi River.

Northfield Presicison Instrument Corporation (Island Park, NY) has introduced the Model 450 Air Chuck, which installs on the bed of the customer’s machine. The pick-and-place arm picks up the parts after they are finished in the front chucks and transfers them to the rear chucks for finishing.

Baumer (Southington, CT) has introduced its new HS35 family of incremental hollow shaft encoders — including a fully-programmable version — for heavy-duty positioning and speed control applications. The rugged encoders withstand shocks up to 200 g, high-pressure cleaning, and ambient temperatures from -40°F to 212°F.

Gasco Affiliates, LLC (Oldsmar, FL) has announced the expansion of its EcoSmart line of environmentally-friendly precision gas products with the EcoSmart 44, a standard 34-liter container containing 44 liters of precision calibration gas. The new model features 29 percent more gas than the traditional 34-liter unit, which reduces the cost per liter while extending the life cycle.

I was joining a manager on a walk through his plant some time back, when we came upon an automatic cut-off saw that was cutting twelve-foot brass bars into four-foot lengths. The bed of the saw was about four feet high — just below chest height for me — but just above chest height for the employee who was tending and unloading the saw.

SHANGHAI (AP) — China's imports of foreign cars nearly doubled last year, with Japanese and German models most in favor among buyers looking to upgrade their vehicles, an industry association said Tuesday.
The quasi-official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said car imports jumped 93 percent last year from 2009 to 813,600 vehicles.

NEW YORK (AP) — In the "Jeopardy!" battle of man vs. machine, man and machine were neck-and-neck on Monday.
Human player Brad Rutter and the supercomputer named Watson ended an initial round tied at $5,000. The other challenger, human Ken Jennings, was far behind with $2,000.
Rutter (the show's all-time money-winner with $3.

BEIJING (AP) — China will play a much bigger role in General Motors Co.'s plans including clean energy vehicles as it moves to capitalize further on rapid growth in the world's largest auto market, the company's CEO said Tuesday.
Calling China "the crown jewel in the GM universe," Chief Executive Daniel Akerson said the automaker plans to launch more than 20 new or redesigned cars in China over the next two years.

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Boeing Co. hopes aviation biofuels will be practical for the market by around 2015, but it's going to take a lot of work.
Richard Wynne, Boeing Commercial Airplane's director of environment and aviation policy, told reporters Monday that the company is working with others throughout the industry toward having 1 percent of all aviation fuel come from non-petroleum sources by then.

A mid-sized gear manufacturer espouses some old-fashioned ideas to confront the challenges of today’s economic environment and world market conditions.
The two “ages” of Fred Young, then and now.
Forest City Gear supplies some of the world’s leading companies with high-precision gear work.

Pinpoint Laser Systems (Peabody, MA) has developed a new roll alignment kit to facilitate the alignment of rollers, idlers, take up reels, shafts, and web-handling systems. The newest addition — the Microgage Roll Alignment kit — is compact and easy to use in industrial environments, according to the company.

The DAYlube grease — from Dayton Progress (Dayton, OH) — uses nanoceramic particles that act as microscopic ball bearings, which helps provide continuous lubrication to steel surfaces. Dayton Progress has announced that DAYlube is now available in 5-gallon pails, which makes it ideal for high-volume applications, particularly conveyors, bearings, chains, gears, and more.

The Posidyne oil-shear clutch brakes from Force Control (Fairfield, OH) transmit torque between two lubricated surfaces, which eliminates wear and dissipates heat. Because there is no direct contact between the friction surfaces during acceleration or deceleration, there is no need for adjustment or replacement of discs, according to the company.